Wilderness Park — Attraction in Downey

Great place for commuters to stop off along the way! Other similar places I’ve seen have been designated as roadside parks, just beside and in sight of the busy freeways. I enjoy the brief respite from my commute, with the wildlife, trails and landscaping to distract from the business of my day! Here, the beautification efforts have paid off! As a city park, it’s a great place to take the kids to watch the ducks and geese, play at the playgrounds and for nature walks around the ponds! Then they can progress to the motocross bike trails, and the grown-ups can park and take their bikes to the San Gabriel River Trails! There’s informative signage in English and Español explaining park features. There’s also helpful user info regarding the practical application and rules of the park. Picnic tables, benches and open lawn spots are available to relax and unwind in a natural setting. Dogs are allowed and frequently seen with both residents and road travelers. Parking may be adequate, tho weekdays can be crowded. Public restrooms are throughout the park, tho some may not be open on weekdays. Trash containers and dog mitts are randomly placed all around the park, helping users to look after themselves. While the park is a modest attempt at creating a wilderness like area, I can’t help noticing the freeway and high power lines that come with the territory. As a longtime Los Angeles tourguide, I’d like to escape to such a nice, natural area and connect with nature, tho away from the traffic, noise, pollution and power lines. So the attraction for the looks and usefulness of the park is awesome! Tho there’s something left to be desired, considering the secluded tranquility of...

This park is very nice for walks with kids. You can walk from one pond and around, all the way to the other pond, there are paths for kids to use on their bicycles, or scooters, I like it for these things particularly because the park is small enough for not having adults on their bicycles, but big enough for kids to do big loops. The park itself is next a river bike path that will lead to the mountains or to the beaches.

There are plenty of green grass areas to setup volleyball nets which ive seen people doing. Ive seen people setting up activities for kids like doing big soap bubbles and kids running around.

There are two small ponds with small fish. It can't be too bad because people come with good amounts of fishing equipment. But I'm not fish connoisseur to break down more in detail, maybe someone can further elaborate on this. I've seen people fishing everytime I go.

There are plenty of ducks and geese for kids to see and feed. The park is very safe and very kids oriented. Saturdays and Sundays there's a $5 parking fee.

Kudos to the lead and the people that follow through on the maintenance that their dedicated effort makes this a magnificent park, there are plenty of other parks around here that people decide not to go back because of poor maintenance practices, yet this park is well beyond well kept, thanks again for the hardworking people that make this a safe place to be very recreational for kids and overall...

We love going to this park. It's pretty clean throughout each and every time. Lots of people take their dogs and about 99% keep them on a leash throughout. They also clean up after them. It's not that big nor is it for running/jogging, but mostly for walking and enjoying nature (manmade). There's some ponds, ducks, geese and several other types of birds hanging around. There's a few squirrels now and then and even some rabbits. Small birds, butterflies (in season), hummingbirds, and a casual glimpse of a lizard or gopher may occur.

The pathway is pretty smooth throughout (96% or so) and clear of debris...you just have to worry about the occasional poop from the water fowl(but hey, it's nature).

Overall, it's a good place to visit, relax in and enjoy.

There is a $5.00 ENTRANCE FEE for NON RESIDENTS or FREE with proof of Downey residency.

Weekends get pretty packed with people taking scenic pictures from quinceañeras and such...but even then, there's a limited amount of cars that are allowed into parking lot due to parking lot size so there's still room enough to walk around.

The kid's playground area is also kept pretty clean consistently.

Let's all do our part and continue to keep...